Target-shooting dummy

ABSTRACT

Target-shooting dummy formed of elastic and rigid board material allowing a part of a dummy, consisting of two board elements of the material fastened together and parallel to one another, to be kept upright, even during movement, by attachment to the lower edge of the boards, the dummy being composed of two parts each consisting of two board elements fastened together at one end along a given length and at the other end bent apart against the elastic action of the material, and with the insides of their outer edges fastened to the corresponding insides of the outer edges of the two corresponding and similarly treated elements in the other part of the dummy.

United States Patent Holm [54] TARGET-SHOOTING DUMMY [72] Inventor: Karl Arne Holm, Stockholm,

Swede-n [73] Assignee: Hammarplast AB, Tingsryd, Sweden [22] Filed: June 1, 1970 21 App1.No.: 41,981

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 3, 1969 Sweden ..7825/69 [52] US. Cl ..273/102 R, 273/102 S, 161/16 [51] Int. Cl. ..F41j 1/02 [58] Field of Search ..273/102 R, 102 B; 46/30-31; 161/16, 23, 25, 27, 33, 35

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Myers ..273/102 B Ober ..161/16 Jackson ..161/123 1451 Aug. 22, 1972 Reynolds ..161/137 Davey ..89/ 36 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Attorney-Mattem, Ware & Davis [5 7] ABSTRACT Target-shooting dummy formed of elastic and rigid board material allowing a part of a dummy, consisting of two board elements of the material fastened together and parallel to one another, to -be kept upright, even during movement, by attachment to the lower edge of the boards, the dummy being composed of two parts each consisting of two board elements fastened together at one end along a given length and at the other end bent apart against the elastic action of the material, and with the insides of their outer edges fastened to the corresponding insides of the outer edges of the two corresponding and similarly treated elements in the other part of the dummy,

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures TARGET-SHOOTING DUMMY The invention relates to target-shooting dummies, target screens or the like of board material. Such dummies or screens are used, for example, in target-shooting against large targets representing trucks, tanks etc. For this purpose dummies of natural size are used which constitute images of the target viewed from the side and/or front. Such dummies may either be made of cardboard or fabric stretched over a wooden frame or may consist of target images in two projections made of corrugated board, wood fiberboards or the like, the various parts, representing a front and rear half of the lateral projection of, for example, a tank, as also the right and left half of the frontal projection of such a tank, being joined together by suitable means. These four parts, which in turn may be composed of smaller subelements, are attached to the crossing-point, for example by means of angular laths of wood, board or the like.

The disadvantage of such dummies is that, especially in damp and rainy weather, they do not exhibit the necessary rigidity and stability since the wood fiberboards or the corrugated board readily absorb moisture and so lose a large part of their rigidity and dimensional stability. An attempt has been made to avoid this drawback in dummies made of corrugated board by immersing the boards of the dummy in paraffin before assembly. In this way a somewhat increased rigidity has been gained, and also a satisfactory resistance to damp weather and short spells of rain. But this procedure is expensive and the finished product does not provide sufficient resistance to continuous rain and bad weather for dummies of known design to obtain the necessary strength.

The present invention is intended to make the dummy more true to life and to increase its rigidity and resistance to unfavorable weather conditions, and consists essentially in the fact that it is composed of two parts, each consisting of two board elements fastened together at one end along a given length and bent apart at the other end against the elastic action of the material, one pair of elements being fastened to the insides of the outer edges of the two corresponding and similarly treated elements of the dummy etc. forming the other part, whereby, viewed from above, the dummy forms a figure reminiscent of an asteroid.

The dummy should preferably be reinforced by means of an undercarriage with rails in the form of an asteroid, which mate with the undersides of the board elements. The elements may in such case be made of hardened wood fiberboards, parafiin-impregnated corrugated boards or the like, or may consist of suitably extruded plastic boards with a profile resembling corrugated board.

The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing the dummy etc. according to the invention, consisting essentially in the fact that one first manufactures two parts of the dummy, each consisting of two board elements of a certain rigidity and elasticity, by joining together the board elements, two by two, at one end along a given length of the elements, then separating the elements at the opposite ends of the twoparts formed in this way against the elastic action of the elements, finally fastening together the insides of the outer edges of the bent apart elements of the two parts, so that the dummy etc., viewed from above, forms a figure reminiscent of an asteroid.

The invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawing of one of its embodiments. The drawing shows FIG. 1 a dummy built according to the invention, and

FIG. 2 a part consisting of two board elements in such a dummy.

The dummy shown in FIG. 1 is intended to give the illusion of a tank. According to the invention such a dummy consists of two parts 1, each consisting of two board elements 2, 3 and 2', 3, respectively, of the kind shown in FIG. 2. Each such board element 2, 3, 2, 3', is made preferentially of a board of extruded plastic rather reminiscent of corrugated board in its construction. Between two sheet surfaces it forms a number of ribs 4 perpendicular to the sheets which give the board composed of the sheets and the ribs 4 a great elasticity and rigidity. Such boards can at present be obtained commercially in widths of cm and in practically unlimited lengths. For a tank of about 6 m length, 3 m width and 2 m height, the dummy may be built up of four board elements 2, 3, 2, 3', about 3 k m long and about 130 m high. To give the illusion of a turret on the tank, a board 2a, 3a, 2'a, 3'a is jointed to each board 2, 3 and 2, 3, respectively, for example by means of a rivet seam 5.

In the manufactureof the dummy one manufactures first four boards 2, 3, 2, 3(2a, 3a, 2'a, 3'a), one end of the board intended to represent the front or rear portion of the tank being slightly chamfered. Two such boardelements are then joined together at their chamfered ends essentially up to line 7, where the turret is intended to start. The jointing can be done either by glueing, welding or riveting with a riveting machine,

in which case one may be content, for example, to rivet around the polygonal contour denoted by 8. At the same tine a seam is made also along line 7. When two such parts have been completed, which, apart from the undercarriage, are all. that is required to form the dummy, the ends of the board elements 2, 3 and 2', 3, respectively, situated nearest the turret, are separated in the form of arcs, after which the insides of the outer edges 9 of the elementon one part of the dummy are fastened to the corresponding insides of the outer edges 9 of the other part. This results in the dummy, shown in FIG. 1, simulating a tank, which, viewed from above, has the form essentially of an asteroid, two of the arms of which are prolonged so as to represent the front and rear ends of the tank. For further reinforcement of the dummy it can be placed on an undercarriage 10 withv asteroid-shaped rails 11 into which'the lower edges of the two parts are inserted.

The dummy or screen according to the invention can, of course, also be made of other material, for example paraffin-impregnated corrugated board or wood fiberboards, or of sheet metal. The dummy or screen can also be used for other purposes, e.g. for representation of other vehicles, ships, aircraft, objects in a landscapeetc.

If one so desires, one can prefabricate the two parts I of a dummy tank and then keep them laid flat one on the other, so forming a stock of many dummies.

Compared with earlier known dummies the dummy according to the invention thus has greater rigidity, a

profile which is truer in its cubic dimensions, is more easily manufactured, among other reasons owing to its rigidity despite the thin wall, so that the various parts can be joined together with a rivet seam. Stockkeeping is also easier, as noted, as there are only two parts in, for example, a dummy tank, whereas earlier dummies had six to eight parts. The dummy according to the invention is also more easily assembled, has a better overall rigidity and is easier to attach to a base. Despite these advantages a dummyaccording to the invention is roughly half as expensive as earlier known dummies.

Although the invention has been described with reference to one of its embodiments, it can be arbitrarily varied within the scope of the subsequent claims.

What I claim is:

l. A shooting dummy or target comprised of two parts, each of which includes: 1. two board elements;

2. said board elements constructed from a given material, v

3. each of said board elements having longitudinal and transverse axis,

a. the longitudinal axis of said board elements terminating in two substantially transversely extending ends, 1

b. the transverse axis of said board elements terminated in substantially longitudinally extending upper and lower edges;

4. said board elements being fastened together at one of said ends;

5. said elements being bent outwardly at the other of said ends to resist the elastic action of said board material,

6. the other of said ends having'inner andouter edges,

7. said other of said ends further having the inner of 7 said edges fastened to the corresponding inner edges of the two corresponding and similarly treated elements in the other part of the dummy, whereby the dummy, viewed from above, forms a figure substantially resembling an asteroid.

2. The shooting dummy or target described in claim 1 including:

I. an undercarriage reinforcement member, 1

2. said reinforcement member consisting of rails,

3. said rails substantially resembling an asteroid and being of a size and shape to enable it to mate with I said lower longitudinal edge of said board elements. 3. The shooting dummy or target described in claim 1 including:

1. said board elements constructed from a material selected from the group consisting of;

a. hardened wood fiber, b. parafi'm-impregnated corrugated fiber. 4. The shooting dummy or target described in claim 1 including:

1. said board elements constructed from an extruded plastic material 2.' said elements having a profile gated board.

resembling corru- 

1. A shooting dummy or target comprised of two parts, each of which includes:
 1. two board elements;
 2. said board elements constructed from a given material,
 3. each of said board elements having a longitudinal and transverse axis, a. the longitudinal axis of said board elements terminating in two substantially transversely extending ends, b. the transverse axis of said board elements terminated in substantially longitudinally extending upper and lower edges;
 4. said board elements being fastened together at one of said ends;
 5. said elements being bent outwardly at the other of said ends to resist the elastic action of said board material,
 6. the other of said ends having inner and outer edges,
 7. said other of said ends further having the inner of said edges fastened to the corresponding inner edges of the two corresponding and similarly treated elements in the other part of the dummy, whereby the dummy, viewed from above, forms a figure substantially resembling an asteroid.
 2. said board elements constructed from a given material,
 2. The shooting dummy or target described in claim 1 including:
 2. said reinforcement member consisting of rails,
 2. said elements having a profile resembling corrugated board.
 3. said rails substantially resembling an asteroid and being of a size and shape to enable it to mate with said lower longitudinal edge of said board elements.
 3. The shooting dummy or target described in claim 1 including:
 3. each of said board elements having a longitudinal and transverse axis, a. the longitudinal axis of said board elements terminating in two substantially transversely extending ends, b. the transverse axis of said board elements terminated in substantially longitudinally extending upper and lower edges;
 4. said board elements being fastened together at one of said ends;
 4. The shooting dummy or target described in claim 1 including:
 5. said elements being bent outwardly at the other of said ends to resist the elastic action of said board material,
 6. the other of said ends having inner and outer edges,
 7. said other of said ends further having the inner of said edges fastened to the corresponding inner edges of the two corresponding and similarly treated elements in the other part of the dummy, whereby the dummy, viewed from above, forms a figure substantially resembling an asteroid. 